by Roy J. Snell
CHAPTER XIII INTO THE UNKNOWN
After they had gone to their room that night, the girls continued to talkover their plans for exploring the mysterious black shaft.
"If we're going to get the benefit of the full moon, we'll have to godown into the shaft in the next two or three nights, so we might as wellgo down tomorrow night," Jo Ann said earnestly. "What do you say to ourgoing tomorrow night?"
Florence and Peggy exchanged excited glances, then replied in unison,"All right."
The next morning they set to work early to get everything ready for theirgreat adventure.
So it was that just as the bells in the cathedral tower finished chimingthe midnight hour, three lithe, knicker-clad figures crept one by one upon the roof and over near the chimney.
"We'll have to wait a little while," said Jo Ann, low-voiced. "The moonisn't up far enough yet for it to throw much light on the rear of thehouse. I can't get the other coil of rope out of that back window withoutmore light." She placed her gloves, flashlight, and rope on the roofbeside her, the other girls following her example.
"I'm glad we have to wait," Florence remarked. "It's lovely up here inthe moonlight. Wouldn't this be a wonderful place for a roof garden? Wecould come up here and enjoy it every----"
"Listen!" broke in Peggy with her finger to her lips. "I hear music!"
Obediently Florence and Jo Ann stopped talking to listen.
"A _caballero_ serenading his lady love," Florence explained in reply toPeggy's questioning look.
The next moment Peggy began swaying to the rhythm of the music like agraceful willow tree in the breeze; then catching Florence by the arm,she danced her lightly across the roof.
When they neared Jo Ann again, she called to them softly, "Better notmake so much noise!"
"No one'd ever dream of looking up here," Peggy murmured over hershoulder, dancing away and not stopping till the music ended.
The spell being broken then, the three girls clambered to the top of thewall and sat there for several minutes looking down on the city below. Inthe brilliant tropical moonlight the winding gray paths and dark shadowytrees and shrubbery of the Plaza were silhouetted against thewhite-walled buildings beyond. High above all, like a sentinel on guardover the sleeping city, rose the bell tower of the cathedral.
They were still gazing at this enchanting, etching-like picture when thechimes rang out again.
Jo Ann gave a little start. "I didn't realize we'd been sitting here solong. This moonlight's cast a spell over me--I'd almost forgotten what wecame up here for. I'm going over now to see if there's enough lightshining on that back wall for me to get the rope that we fastened to theiron bars of the window."
She sprang down lightly and crossed the roof. One glance showed her thatshe still had a few minutes to wait before the rays of the moon wouldlight the back window. As she stood looking out over the rear wall of thechurch, her gaze traveled on past the adobe huts toward the river.
"The moonlight has worked magic," she thought in surprise. "It haschanged that ugly district into a thing of beauty; those dirty adobe hutslook white and shining, and that muddy river, silvery and peaceful. Ifonly something could transform the lives of the people who live there thesame way! I wish there were something I could do to help them."
She shook herself slightly. "It won't do any good to stand here dreamingabout it," she said aloud, then turned and called softly to the girls,"Come on. It's light enough now for me to see to get that rope."
While she had been talking she had fastened her flashlight to her beltand slipped on a pair of heavy gloves to protect her hands from thescratchy fiber rope. That done, she lowered herself over the wall andslipped down till her feet reached the loop on the end; then holding therope firmly under one arm, she dug her fingers into the rough plaster andmoved slowly across the wall. When she had almost reached the window, herhands slipped. Like the pendulum of a huge clock, she swung back andforth, clinging tightly to the rope. Simultaneously there was the stingof fire across her shoulder and arm. Glancing around, she saw that hershirt was torn and blood was oozing from her shoulder.
"What's a little thing like that?" she thought. "There's no time tobother with it now." Maybe if she'd take off her gloves, she could reachthe window. Jerking them off, she tried again and again to get afingerhold in the wall to pull herself across, but without success.
"It's not as simple as I thought," she told herself, wondering what to donext.
Hearing a soft whistle just then, she glanced up where Peggy and Florencewere watching from the roof. Peggy was gesturing excitedly as if she weretrying to tell her what to do. What could she mean?
The next moment she felt the end of the heavy cord dangling in her face,and immediately she understood. She grasped the cord and fastened itsecurely to the rope to which she was clinging; then with Peggy andFlorence pulling on the cord from the roof, she found it easy to moveacross the wall. There was no danger of slipping now. Having bracedherself with one foot between the iron bars of the window, she unwoundthe coil of rope which she had fastened there from the inside earlier inthe evening. After testing it to see that the end was securely fastenedto the bars, she whistled softly to the girls. At once the cordslackened, and she swung slowly back with the end of the long, knottedrope in her hand.
On reaching the narrow window she pitched the rope through, then wriggledherself onto the ledge. After turning on her stomach she had both handsfree to unfasten her flashlight.
Anxiously then she waited for Florence to descend. By having her comebetween them she and Peggy felt they could look after her better. Butnow, to her amazement, she saw that Florence was fully capable of lookingafter herself. She was climbing down slowly and cautiously, but nottimidly.
Since the narrow window was very small and would hold only one, Jo Annknew she must hurry to get out of it. After a hasty examination of theroom below, she lowered herself to the floor, careful to avoid fallinginto the open shaft which extended completely across one end.
The moment she touched the floor she flashed the light upward so as tohelp Florence and Peggy in their descent. In a few more moments they werestanding safely beside her.
"What a strange place!" Peggy said, then added quickly in a whisper,"I'll wake Dr. Blackwell at this rate."
"No; talk as loud as you like," replied Jo Ann. "These walls are so thickI believe you could yell down here without his hearing you."
The girls stared at Jo Ann in amazement. It seemedincredible--uncanny--that they could be within a few feet of home and Dr.Blackwell, and yet he could not hear them.
With the aid of their flashlights they examined the room from top tobottom, only to find that except for the rough outlines of the sealeddoorway, it was bare and uninteresting. Half fearfully, then, they stareddown into the shaft. In the surrounding darkness the old ladder lookedwhite and ghostlike.
"Why do you suppose they sealed up that door instead of closing up thishole?" queried Peggy curiously.
"Because it was much easier to close up the door," replied Jo Ann. "It'dbe hard to conceal as large an opening as this in a cement floor. I havean idea that the door was sealed up in a hurry to prevent the discoveryof this secret passage. Let's see where it leads. Shine your lights overthis way so I can see," she ordered, climbing over the edge of the floor.
Slowly she made her way down the rope into the shaft. Now and then shestopped to kick off a loose step or a jagged splinter from the old ladderlest it should injure Florence and Peggy, who would follow in a moment.
Suddenly she gave a little shriek. There to one side of the shaft yawnedthe mouth of a low, tunnel-like opening. "O-oh, hurry, girls!" she criedexcitedly.
"What's the matter?" called Peggy in alarm. "Are you hurt? Be there in aminute," she added as she started down the rope.
"I'm not hurt, but I've found something important," Jo Ann called back.
In a surprisingly short time both Peggy and Florence had
dropped down tothe bottom of the shaft beside Jo Ann. With eyes straining to penetratethe darkness, the girls peered into the tunnel.
"Come on, let's go inside," urged Jo Ann. Even as she was speaking, shestooped and entered the low, narrow tunnel.
Obediently Peggy and Florence followed at her heels. No sooner had theyentered than they began coughing and choking.
"Don't touch the----" Florence stopped in the middle of her warning tosneeze loudly; at the same moment such a violent attack of coughingseized Peggy that she leaned against the wall.
"Don't lean against--that wall!" gasped Florence, catching her by thearm. "Whenever you do"--she stopped to sneeze again--"it stirs up a finedust. See!" she added, rubbing her finger over the wall. In the rays ofthe lights they could see a fine white powder which had formed on thecrumbling stones. "The air's very dry, and the least movement sets thepowder in motion."
Careful to avoid touching the walls or making a sudden motion that wouldstir up the dust, they began examining their surroundings. Before them asfar as they could see stretched the dark passageway, part of its wallshaving apparently been cut through natural stone, while the other parthad been lined with blocks of limestone. It was the dust from theselimestone blocks which had choked them, Florence noticed.
After they had walked a short distance the opening broadened and was muchhigher. It was easy to avoid touching the walls now, and even Jo Anncould stand without bumping her head. With Jo Ann still in the lead theywalked slowly in single file down the passage. All along the way theykept flashing their lights on the walls and ceiling and floor, watchingcarefully lest they overlook something.
"Where do you suppose we are now, Jo?" called Peggy some minutes later.
"I don't know for sure, of course, but I think we're headed toward theold church. I had an idea we'd find something like this."
"I believe you're right," agreed Florence. "This tunnel must've been usedfor a secret exit through the church."
"I think it's more than just an exit," declared Jo Ann. "They would neverhave made this tunnel this broad and high or lined it with stone if itwere to be used merely as a way of escape."
"What else could it've been used for, then--and who do you suppose everhad it made in the first place?" Florence asked curiously.
"I believe your house used to be closely connected with the church insome way--maybe it was used as a home for the priests. Back in the dayswhen these buildings were erected, they were always having wars andrevolutions. This tunnel would make it possible for the priests to getover to the church, no matter what was going on outside. Then just thinkwhat an excellent place this would be to hide anyone or anything! Ibelieve it was used as a hiding place in war times as well as an----" Shestopped suddenly. "Oh, here's another tunnel!" she exclaimed as shepeered into another large opening in the side of the passageway. "Andthis one goes on farther."
"It looks as if there's a network of passages," put in Peggy excitedly asshe and Florence crowded near Jo Ann to see this discovery. "I wonderwhere they go and what they were for."
"We'll explore them and find out; but we must be careful not to getlost," cautioned Jo Ann. "No one'd ever know what had happened to us.They'd think we'd just evaporated in thin air."
"Ugh!" shuddered Peggy. "Don't even mention such a thing. It gives me thecreeps."
"Oh, look, here's a little niche in the wall!" exclaimed Florence. "Andlook--what is this?" she asked, holding up a queer-shaped piece of darkmetal.
"It looks like some sort of a candle holder to me," Peggy volunteered."The priests must have kept candles there to use when going back andforth through the----" She stopped abruptly and sprang back, shrieking.Something black and winged had struck her in the face.
The next moment Florence cried excitedly, "What is that awful thing?" Sheslapped madly at a passing object, then began to sneeze violently.
For a few moments the air was white with dust about the girls as theyhuddled together, choking and gasping.
"That's--just--bats!" gasped Jo Ann at last, as the air became clearer."We frightened--them."
"You mean--they--frightened us," corrected Peggy. "Aren't we brave,though?"
"I'll admit I was startled at first," acknowledged Florence. "I couldn'timagine what those horrid flapping things were."
Before venturing any further they looked anxiously all around, but totheir relief they could see no more of the terrifying little creatures.
"Which way shall we go?" asked Jo Ann. "Straight ahead, or shall we seewhere this side tunnel leads?"
"I'll tell you what to do," suggested Peggy. "While you and Florenceexplore that side passage, I'll wait here in this main tunnel. That wayyou can't get lost--and if you get frightened, just call me, and I'llanswer so you'll know how to get back."
"Are you sure you won't be afraid?" asked Jo Ann. "We won't be gonelong."
"Why, of course I'm not afraid," bragged Peggy. "Anyway, there's nothingto be afraid of--except those miserable bats, and we've frightened themaway."
"All right, then," agreed Jo Ann. "You be sure to stay right here."
Peggy grinned. "Don't worry about me. I'll be all right. It's you twowho're going into the unknown."
Standing in the opening where the tunnels joined, she watched Florenceand Jo Ann disappear into the darkness. Finally only a dim lightflickered in the distance, then vanished altogether. She was alone--alonewith the dust of the centuries about her.
Jo Ann's voice floated back just then with surprising clearness."Everything all right?"
"Okay," Peggy called back, more cheerfully than she felt.